Goggia rupicola

Goggia rupicola, also known as the Namaqua dwarf leaf-toed gecko or the Namaqua pygmy gecko, is a southern African leaf-toed gecko first described by Vivian FitzSimons from a specimen collected on the 23 August 1937[2] where it was found in cracks of rocks of small outcrops in the arid Namakwaland in South Africa and Namibia.

Goggia rupicola
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Gekkonidae
Genus: Goggia
Species:
G. rupicola
Binomial name
Goggia rupicola
(FitzSimons, 1938)
Synonyms
  • Phyllodactylus rupicolus
  • Phyllodactylus lineatus rupicolus

Name

Rupicolous refers to inhabiting rocks and stones.\\

Description

On the dorsal (upper) sideG. rupicola is a dark greyish brown with pale salmon-coloured semicircular spots with a dark edge on the front arranged in more or less regular series down the back. A thin black streak runs from the nostril through the eye to just above ear-opening. The belly is a greyish white.

It is related to Goggia essexi from which it can be distinguished mainly by the dorsal and ventral scaling and the colour markings.

Dimensions: Body length about 30 mm, tail length 30 mm, head length 6 to 7 mm, head breadth 5.2 mm, forelimb 9 mm, hindlimb 12 mm.[3]

Reproduction

The three elliptical-shaped eggs originally collected in 1937 between Okiep and Springbok averaged 7.8 x 6.0 mm.[4]

References
  1. Branch, W.R. 2017. Goggia rupicola. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T169702A110307962. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T169702A110307962.en. Downloaded on 04 June 2018.
  2. Fitzsimons, V.F.M. "Transvaal Museum Expedition to South-West Africa and Little Namaqualand, May to August 1937. Reptiles and Amphibians". Annals of the Transvaal Museum: 162.
  3. "www.pachydactylus.com". Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  4. Fitzsimons, V.F.M. "Transvaal Museum Expedition to South-West Africa and Little Namaqualand, May to August 1937. Reptiles and Amphibians". Annals of the Transvaal Museum: 162.
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